Law and the Postcolonial: The Pirate Myth : Genealogies of an Imperial Concept by Amedeo Policante read PDF, EPUB
9781138797314 1138797316 The image of the pirate is at once spectral and ubiquitous. It haunts the imagination of international legal scholars, diplomats and statesmen involved in the war on terror. It returns in the headlines of international newspapers as an untimely 'security threat'. It materializes on the most provincial cinematic screen and the most acclaimed works of fiction. It casts its shadow over the liquid spatiality of the Net, where cyber-activists, file-sharers and a large part of the global youth are condemned as pirates, often embracing that definition with pride rather than resentment. Today, the pirate remains a powerful political icon, embodying at once the persistent nightmare of an anomic wilderness at the fringe of civilization, and the fantasy of a possible anarchic freedom beyond the rigid norms of the state and of the market. And yet, what are the origins of this persistent 'pirate myth' in the Western political imagination? Can we trace the historical trajectory that has charged this ambiguous figure with the emotional, political and imaginary tensions that continue to characterize it?What can we learn from the history of piracy and the ways in which it intertwines with the history of imperialism and international trade? Drawing on international law, political theory, and popular literature, The Pirate Myth offers an authoritative genealogy of this immortal political and cultural icon, showing that the history of piracy - the different ways in which pirates have been used, outlawed and suppressed by the major global powers, but also fantasized, imagined and romanticised by popular culture - can shed unexpected light on the different forms of violence that remain at the basis of our contemporary global order., The image of the pirate today haunts the imagination of statesmen, diplomats and international legal scholars as an unlikely global security threat - endangering the regularity of oceanic trade networks and legitimizing an unprecedented naval coalition that includes all major international powers. The image of the pirate also casts its shadow over the internet, as cyber-activists, file-sharers and others are condemned for piracy - even if that definition is also embraced by some according to the fantasy of a freedom beyond the rigid norms of the state and of the market. But what are the origins of the 'pirate myth' in the Western political imagination? Drawing on history, international law, literature and politics, this book offers an original genealogy of this myth. From the persecutio piratarum that inaugurates the Imperial phase of Roman history to the contemporary global mobilization against Somali pirates, its close reading of the ways in which different Empires have made use of the 'pirate myth' in order to legitimize their hegemonic violence sheds light on the logic of past and present Imperial formations. More specifically, this book shows that the history of piracy - the ways in which pirates have been used, outlawed, criminalized, condemned and suppressed by European powers - has been, and continues to be, a fundamental element in the formation of the world market. The Pirate Myth: Genealogies of an Imperial Concept will therefore be immense interest to those working and researching in law, politics, and history.
9781138797314 1138797316 The image of the pirate is at once spectral and ubiquitous. It haunts the imagination of international legal scholars, diplomats and statesmen involved in the war on terror. It returns in the headlines of international newspapers as an untimely 'security threat'. It materializes on the most provincial cinematic screen and the most acclaimed works of fiction. It casts its shadow over the liquid spatiality of the Net, where cyber-activists, file-sharers and a large part of the global youth are condemned as pirates, often embracing that definition with pride rather than resentment. Today, the pirate remains a powerful political icon, embodying at once the persistent nightmare of an anomic wilderness at the fringe of civilization, and the fantasy of a possible anarchic freedom beyond the rigid norms of the state and of the market. And yet, what are the origins of this persistent 'pirate myth' in the Western political imagination? Can we trace the historical trajectory that has charged this ambiguous figure with the emotional, political and imaginary tensions that continue to characterize it?What can we learn from the history of piracy and the ways in which it intertwines with the history of imperialism and international trade? Drawing on international law, political theory, and popular literature, The Pirate Myth offers an authoritative genealogy of this immortal political and cultural icon, showing that the history of piracy - the different ways in which pirates have been used, outlawed and suppressed by the major global powers, but also fantasized, imagined and romanticised by popular culture - can shed unexpected light on the different forms of violence that remain at the basis of our contemporary global order., The image of the pirate today haunts the imagination of statesmen, diplomats and international legal scholars as an unlikely global security threat - endangering the regularity of oceanic trade networks and legitimizing an unprecedented naval coalition that includes all major international powers. The image of the pirate also casts its shadow over the internet, as cyber-activists, file-sharers and others are condemned for piracy - even if that definition is also embraced by some according to the fantasy of a freedom beyond the rigid norms of the state and of the market. But what are the origins of the 'pirate myth' in the Western political imagination? Drawing on history, international law, literature and politics, this book offers an original genealogy of this myth. From the persecutio piratarum that inaugurates the Imperial phase of Roman history to the contemporary global mobilization against Somali pirates, its close reading of the ways in which different Empires have made use of the 'pirate myth' in order to legitimize their hegemonic violence sheds light on the logic of past and present Imperial formations. More specifically, this book shows that the history of piracy - the ways in which pirates have been used, outlawed, criminalized, condemned and suppressed by European powers - has been, and continues to be, a fundamental element in the formation of the world market. The Pirate Myth: Genealogies of an Imperial Concept will therefore be immense interest to those working and researching in law, politics, and history.